This entry was first posted to my Ungardened Moments blog but felt it was relevant and topical for this blog too.
I've tried writing this post about
five times and each time it's come out wrong. So I left it alone for a
few days to see if I could express myself better. It's not happening so
I'll just plug away regardless and hope I make some sense. (Warning,
long post.)
Perhaps
it's a sign of getting older but as I look around I despair about all
the things in the world that shouldn't happen like war, poverty,
starvation, decimation of our planet and I wonder if there is anything I
can do that will make a difference. The things I've mentioned seem
overwhelming at times and what can one person possibly do that can make a
difference, it seem hopeless and I feel helpless. Those things are out
of my control but I do have a small measure of control and influence
over my immediate environment, my home, my garden, my interactions with
people on a daily basis.
I would like to make a difference and surely the best place to start would be in my own backyard so to speak.
How
I interact and react to everyday situations can make a difference. How
so? If I'm in traffic and it's frustrating, I can either choose to
become impatient and annoyed at the car in front who seems to be holding
me up or the car that came along side and then cut me off. I can blast
my horn to show my displeasure or I can keep my cool.
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| Souce: Google images |
If I blast my
horn I make someone else angry which does nothing for them or me.
Everyone is anxious to get somewhere whether it be to work, or dropping
the kids at school or picking them up. Everyone wants to get where they
are going and if you just let that person on the side road get on the
highway in front of you when traffic is at a crawl, you really make
their day. Your good turn might encourage them to do something nice for
someone else in traffic and might cause a ripple effect. One small act
of kindness may in fact have a huge impact on others. Of course we
won't really know but it's worth trying anyway.
The
fact that people are starving on our planet is a terrible thing. I
can't feed the world but I can make sure I do my best not to waste
food. It's easy to waste food when there is an abundance of either
money to buy it and a bountiful supply of it. I think it's easy to
waste food when you don't have an intimate relationship with growing
your own food. If you grow it yourself, you work hard at it planting
seeds and seedlings, watering, fertilising, weeding, mulching, watching
out for pests and diseases and working at overcoming those problems.
In
effect you know how hard it was to produce and you appreciate the
effort that has gone into that production. Who wants to waste food that
has required hard work and effort to grow? It's easy to be
disassociated from that basic thing we all need and that's food. (By
the way I'm not criticising anyone who doesn't grow their own food, it's
just not possible for most of us with our lifestyle and
circumstances.) It's easy to waste water, electricity and many other
things but not necessary. Just because we have doesn't mean we should
waste.
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| Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9228610/Sage-words-Dont-panic-about-the-drought.html |
A number of years ago, the state of Victoria
where I live had suffered a 10 year drought and our water reserves were
at an all time low. Severe water restrictions were put in place and it
made us all mindful of how we can get by with less water than what we
think. I remember that even hand watering our gardens was severely
restricted and as I have a large garden, that made keeping it alive in
our very hot summer extremely difficult. What kept my garden alive that
summer was saving the rinse water from the laundry wash, decanting it
from the laundry trough into a watering can and watering plants with
that.
It was hard work as I live on a slope, it took a lot of time but I
saved my garden. A small tub was placed in the sink in the kitchen and
whenever we rinsed our hands, that water was captured and used on the
garden. I placed a bucket in the shower recess while showering and that
little bit of excess water that gets splashed around was saved too.
After this experience of water shortage we made the decision to install
rain water tanks which enable us to water the garden in summer when it's
needed without the need to use the mains water. Not only does save
valuable drinking water, it saves us money too. I am ever so grateful
to my husband who is not only brilliant in his I.T. paid work, he is a
wonderful handyman too. He can do most things he puts his hand to which
has saved us thousands of dollars over the years.
Growing
up on a farm I was use to seeing my Dad and brother fix things, repair
things (especially machinery that continually broke down), make do,
build, invent, salvage, save materials, recycle.
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| Farming at Niparay |
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| Early days farming at Niparay |
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| Farming at Niparay |
My husband does the
same thing. He saves screws,
nuts, bolts, timber, anything he thinks may
come in handy. He has fixed Charlotte's older car a number of times
although it's not possible for him to service our newer cars in the same
way as they have too much electronic/computerised components for that.
But he does as much as he can. He builds things. He built a cubby
house for the girls when they were little. When they outgrew it, he
converted it to a potting shed and built it in such a way that it could
be dismantled and moved which is what he did when we built the studio.
He's built a chook shed, a garden room and fences and gates when I
brought home a puppy 11 years ago. He's also built a dark room under
the house so he can pursue his black and white photography hobby.
So
what is my point. As much as we are able, it's good to do things for
ourselves as it makes us resourceful and saves money. An abundance of
money and access to goods and services has contributed to making us a
wasteful and somewhat lazy society. I stress here, some of us not all
of us. Does our consumer and throw away society contribute to our
overly stressful busy lifestyle? I think it does. If we continue to
want more, think we need more, desire more, then we have to work more to
earn the money to buy more. We have a far greater reliance on others
in maintaining this lifestyle than if we did more for ourselves.
Recently
our council had it's annual hard rubbish collection of unwanted
household goods. This is a service that is greatly appreciated because
it is very difficult to get rid of old mattresses, fridges, washing
machines and other large items that have broken and are unrepairable.
But seeing the manner of things out on the footpath to be collected had
me in some cases grieving. I saw perfectly good items of furniture
ready to be collected, to be compacted in the rubbish truck and put into
land fill. Thankfully we do have some very enterprising people who
come around with their utes and trailers to pick up the scrap metal and
other things they have a use for. But on the whole, it is an example of
a throw away society, a society that is wasteful, a society that makes
poor quality items that cannot be repaired or fall apart. There is of
course always the money to buy a new one and this is what our consumer
riddled society relies on, what big business and corporations rely on.
It seems to me to be a sad thing when the existence and survival of the
economies of the world are reliant on consumer growth. Surely there
must be a saturation point. I'm not an economist so perhaps my
perceptions and thinking are naive. I do know it's just not that
simple.
I seemed to have got off the beaten track here
so will try to get back to my point which is how can we do more for
ourselves and become less reliant on others? How can we make a
difference in a world that seems to be out of control in so many ways?
If everyone does just one or two things differently, reduces their
reliance on using more than they need, whether that is less water, less
electricity, not wasting food, perhaps grow some of their own food, all
of those small steps can and will make a difference collectively.
So
may I encourage us to try changing one small thing for a week. It
doesn't matter what it is. If we are time poor we can still smile at
the stranger walking down the street and say hello and wish them a good
day. All it takes is for us to be aware, to be thinking outwardly, to
be thinking community.
I would like to say that in
writing this post I am mindful of my own waste and excesses over the
years. I am guilty of having far too many clothes and shoes, a studio
stuffed with craft items. But I do remember when we were first married
and buying our own home, when the interest rates were at 17.5% plus, our
furniture was all second hand.
Hubby made me side tables from
chipboard and they were covered with a cloth, perfectly acceptable. My
clothes were mostly from charity shops and many of our babies toys and
some of their clothes were from there too. We were most appreciative of
the gifts of clothes, books and toys we received when our girls were
born. Hubby made their cradle and change table and the pram we bought
second hand from a good friend. I made bunny rugs, washed nappies and
when they were older made little dresses and trackies. I was so very
grateful to my sister who bought some gorgeous clothes for my girls when
they were little. Am I looking for sympathy, definitely not. It's an
explanation of how we can manage with less than what we think and still
be very happy. And may I stress that my family has never ever gone
without. We have always had enough and in more recent years more than
enough for which I am very grateful. Despite having more than enough, I
want to remind myself not to be wasteful, to be grateful, to try and
make a difference where I can.
Happy recycling and growing,
Anne
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